Yesterday a bat, today a stick insect. Why not? This guy was spotted creeping along a leaf in the cloud forest of Ecuador. The stick-like appearance is obviously camouflage. In addition to looking like a stick, they also walk in a jerky, back and forth motion, as if a piece of vegetation blowing in the wind.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/500th of a second (-0.33 ev)
This handsome specimen has been in my Costa Rica gallery for a while, but I just realized that it was incorrectly identified as a Honduran White Bat. It is actually a northern ghost bat — much larger and without the yellow nose of the Honduran species. This particular ghost bat would roost every day just outside of my lodge in south western Costa Rica at a place called Tiskita.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 320mm with Nikon 1.7 teleconverter) ISO 400, f/4.8 at 1/8th of a second, cable release and Gitzo tripod
Grevy’s zebras are an endangered species that live only in northern Kenya and a few small pockets of Ethiopia. They are the largest wild member of the horse family and can weigh up to 990 pounds. Stallions that are unable to establish a territory become free ranging and are called bachelors — which appeared to be the case here, as this guy was wandering solo across the short grasses of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm (at 95mm) ISO 800, f/20 at 1/60th of a second (2.33 ev)
Here’s another photo of a bobcat that I’ve posted a few shots of in the past. It was a couple of years ago and I was on my way back to the airport after a business trip in LA. I had heard reports of a bobcat sighting at the San Joaquin Nature Preserve in Irvine. I had about forty minutes to spare before I needed to be at the airport, so I decided to stop by the preserve. It turned out to be a good decision. I was able to get a nice series of ground level images as the bobcat cautiously passed in front of me on its way to hunt ducks in a nearby swamp. I liked the lick smack on this particular frame.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second
The essence of the Galapagos Islands — a Darwin’s finch atop a marine iguana. There are fifteen different species of Darwin’s finches, and they were instrumental in the development of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. This particular bird is called a medium ground finch — not to be confused with the small or the large ground finch. All three ground finches (and for that matter all Darwin’s finches) are roughly the same size. The difference is in the beak — each beak having evolved in a slightly different manner thanks to the different food sources on the different islands. Likewise, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the iguanas are also slightly different depending upon which island they inhabit.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/10 at 1/320th of a second
I figured an animated gif might be the best way to illustrate the changing colors of a short horned chameleon (also known as an elephant eared chameleon). The first shot, when the chameleon was a nice colorful blue and green, was how I first encountered the animal on a night hike in Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park. The next two shots show how the color of the skin quickly turned to brown as the chameleon reacted to my presence and flash. This change happened almost immediately as the shots were all taken within thirty seconds.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 200, f/22 at 1/60th of a second (-0.33 ev)
I was recently going through my California landscapes folder and I came across all these images from Death Valley. The six photos show the geologic variety of Death Valley’s floor. A couple of them I have posted before but I wanted to show them together with the new shots. From the top, it’s the mud-caked ground of Mesquite Flats. Next is the lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin. The third image shows the sand dunes at Mesquite Flats. The fourth is appropriately called Devil’s Golf Course. The Fifth is called The Racetrack and is home to the mysterious moving boulders. And finally, the sixth is another type of dried mud near Stovepipe Wells.
Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 17-35mm, Gitzo tripod, ISO 200
I’m a big fan of jackrabbits. Of the three species — the black tailed, the white tailed and the antelope jackrabbit — the black tailed is the most commonly seen. This one was photographed in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California. Although they are called jackrabbits, they are actually hares. The difference between a rabbit and a hare you ask? Other than a list of physical characteristics such as size and strength, the main difference is that rabbits are born blind and hairless while hares are born with fur and sight. As for those awesomely long ears on the jackrabbit — they play a role in regulating body temperature.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
The western woolly lemur is listed as endangered due to its very limited habitat. It is confined to a small area of dry forest in western Madagascar — and even within this small area, suitable habitat is very fragmented. They mostly live in Ankarafantsika National Park, where I saw this young western woolly on a night hike back in 2007.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
I had been photographing the owls at Boundary Bay in Canada for three overcast days before realizing that this majestic mountain was in the background across the bay in the United States. When the fog finally lifted and a bit of sunlight came through, it was quite a scene to see Mount Baker — located in Bellingham, Washington — slowly emerge in the distance. I was hoping for a flight shot with the mountain in the background, but had to settle for this snowy perched on a fallen tree.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/640th of a second (-0.67 ev)